


This Bond Between Us

by dearmrsawyer



Series: pokémon au [5]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Gen, Harry adopts a pokemon egg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 15:46:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,097
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21211058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dearmrsawyer/pseuds/dearmrsawyer
Summary: Louis stops short when he gets a clear view of Harry.Strapped to his chest, with an elaborate number of bands buckled across his waist and shoulders, is a baby carrier, and in it is a deep blue egg with a pair of white spots on the crown.





	This Bond Between Us

**Author's Note:**

> We're back! Some relevant background info for this story: pokémon eggs need mileage to hatch, so trainers customarily carry them around on their travels in the hopes that they'll hatch faster.
> 
> [Here](http://bit.ly/2DXdyZ9) you can find a doc with the names and images of every pokémon mentioned in this series, for those who need it. Thank you to everyone who has indulged me in this niche au, I hope anyone who finds themselves here enjoys.

“Seems like it was a little hardcore for her first go,” Louis muses.

“Size doesn’t determine who wins, you know that,” Liam says.

“Still, you couldn’t have gone with Hitmonchan or something first?”

“Phanpy needs the experience! A gym battle is the safest environment for her to learn, you know that too,” Liam huffs, like they’ve had this conversation before.

“Yeah, yeah,” Louis says with a flap of his hand, because they have. They pass the Pokémart, still a few blocks out from the Pokémon Centre where Louis is on his way to work, and Liam is on his way to pick up Phanpy after a few days of rest and recuperation since going up against a Blastoise.

“Plus, she’s been killing it in training these last few weeks. Took out Ruth’s Sandslash in five minutes flat, and Ruth’s pokémon have already been battling for a couple of years.”

“Not gonna deny you that, she ripped the slat off one of our pens her second day at the Centre, and she wasn’t even fully healed yet.”

Louis had spent the next thirty minutes chasing after a handful of pokémon that were due to be picked up by their trainers that very afternoon, and then designated Harry to stand watch over Phanpy for the rest of the day.

“Oh,” Liam frowns. “I’m sorry, do I owe you for the—”

“Nah, ‘s all good, I’ve got Harry on the repairs.”

“Is that even in his job description?”

“His job description is whatever needs doing at the Centre.”

“Ok but is it even in his _skillset_?”

“How hard can it be to mend a fence?”

“I think giving Harry a hammer might be a safety concern.”

Louis’ mind flashes back to a warm spring day when Harry had offered to help fix the broken rail on their front porch, resulting in a trip to the emergency room and Harry having to wear a finger cast for the next three weeks.

“Fair point, I’ll get back to you.”

As they approach the Centre, Louis spots Harry’s scarfed head working the counter, and a steady line of people waiting to be served. It’s Harry’s first week helping Jay open, despite his having worked there for months. Louis has quite enjoyed the lie-ins, and thinks he’ll recommend Harry for the morning shift as often as he can get away with it.

Louis leads Liam across the glass fronted entrance. “I told Harry to have Phanpy ready for pick up in the morning, so she should be—”

Just as the automatic doors slide open, Liam does a graceful 180 spin to face the street, rocking gently on the balls of his feet. “Ah, think I’ll wait out here if that’s okay.”

Louis takes two precise steps backwards until they’re side by side, raising one eyebrow. “Everything okay, Payno?”

“Just spotted a trainer that lost out at the gym yesterday, left with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.”

Louis smirks. “Quite the contentious lifestyle you lead. Alright, I’ll be back with Phanpy in two shakes of a Mareep’s tail.”

A cool wave of air conditioning washes over him when he steps through the door, immediately cleansing him of the sticky summer morning. He waves to a couple of familiar faces standing in line, sidesteps an overly friendly Oddish, and reaches for the staff gate beside the front desk. Louis stops short when he gets a clear view of Harry.

Strapped to his chest, with an elaborate number of bands buckled across his waist and shoulders, is a baby carrier, and in it is a deep blue egg with a pair of white spots on the crown. Despite this, Harry appears to be moving around quite comfortably, accepting a set of pokéballs from the trainer he’s currently serving. He deposits them into a tray with a blinding grin.

“Uh, Harry?”

Louis catches his attention as he latches the gate behind himself.

“Morning Louis! Could you please take these balls over to the reviving station? We’re run off our feet.”

“Sure, sure, just one thing. What’s with the egg?”

Harry doesn’t miss a beat, waving off his last customer. “Someone brought it in about an hour ago, said they’d found it by the road out on Route 2.”

“Just lying there?”

“Can you believe that? Must’ve been dropped or abandoned or something,” Harry frowns. “I can’t imagine who would do that, lucky it was picked up.”

“Can’t you just set it up in the nursery, with our other eggs?”

“I want to keep an eye on it,” Harry says, cupping the egg protectively. “Besides, our only other egg was collected this morning, I didn’t want it to be alone.”

Louis laughs, but then stops at the glum look on Harry’s face. “Harry, it’ll be perfectly safe in the nursery, that’s what its designed for! You can keep an eye on the surveillance camera if you want to.”

“It was just lying in the road!” Harry cries. “It needs extra care.”

Louis grows aware of the heads craning to see what’s slowed down the line.

“Okay, okay,” Louis says, tray in hand, “Just don’t let it distract you from everything else.”

Harry salutes him and turns to the next person in line.

***

Harry continues to carry the egg everywhere with him, even after Louis has safely sent Phanpy off with Liam and taken over at the front desk. Harry works the reviving station, does his rounds in the aviary, greenhouse and aquatic room, all while holding his clipboard in one hand and the other resting maternally against the egg. He’s wearing it when Louis takes his lunch break in the staff room, sitting sideways against the table to accommodate. He’s even wearing it when they clock out, and Louis spends five minutes just watching him try to remove his white coat without undoing any of the straps.

“Harry?”

He’s got one sleeve twisted down around his elbow, trying to contort his arm up and free, and the other hanging windless at his side. The rest of the coat is still hitched to his back beneath the straps. He looks up when he hears Louis, tongue poking out in concentration.

“Oh, see you tomorrow Lou, have a good night,” he smiles, the sleeve now down to his wrist.

“What… why.” He gestures vaguely at Harry’s current predicament.

“Thought I’d take it for a walk around town before heading home.”

“You’ve been walking around with it all day.”

“Only around the Centre, it could use some proper exercise.”

Harry finally gets his second arm free and yanks the coat out from beneath the two straps crossed over his back. He tidily hangs it in his locker, adjusts the egg, which is slightly askew from his acrobatics, and slips his bag over his shoulder.

“Walk you home?”

Louis smiles with a shake of his head. “Come on, egg boy.”

***

Louis does not see Harry without his new companion for most of the week. They cross paths at the Centre all day every day, and Harry is diligently strapped in, even while administering treatment to other pokémon. On Louis’ day off he pops by the Pokemart for a few essentials and sees Harry through the shop window, powering down the main road with two gym bands around his wrists and one holding back his hair. He’s moving too fast for Louis to get a clear look, but he thinks he spots one wrapped around the egg too.

It’s not until Friday that Louis sees a slim figure in his peripheral vision and doesn’t realise its Harry until the figure does a strange back-and-forth two-step. Louis immediately recognises the dance that signals Harry has forgotten his swipe card in the back and now can’t get through the staff door. He looks over just as Harry is searching for someone who can come to his aid.

“Where’s your missing piece?” he asks as he swipes his card over the sensor.

“Thank you, and I asked Zayn to take it on his delivery route.”

“What--_Harry_!” He grabs Harry’s sleeve as he steps through the door. It glides shut, and Harry jumps back to avoid getting caught.

“Louis! Now you need to swipe me in again please.”

“You can’t just give an egg in our charge to someone who’s not on the staff! That’s completely against protocol.”

“It’s not really in our charge, though. It was brought in by a good Samaritan, it doesn’t belong to anyone.”

“Firstly, you don’t know that. Someone could come in looking for it. And second,” he starts.

“Second?” Harry prompts after a period of silence.

“Second!” Louis flounders. “It… would need to be signed out!”

“I know, I checked with Jay first,” Harry nods seriously. “Besides, I put up flyers around town saying the egg was found, but it’s been almost a week and no one’s called, so…?”

Louis sighs at the hopeful lilt in Harry’s voice. “So, I guess we better hope Zayn’s better on two wheels than you.”

“Oh, he is,” Harry beams as Louis swipes his card again.

***

That evening they’re gathered at Zayn’s place—primarily to eat pizza in company, but secondarily for Harry, who is off carbs for the month, to pick up the egg.

“I don’t understand what your calorie intake has to do with your pokémon,” Zayn says from the armchair on Louis’ right, as Liam presses a pizza box into Zayn’s lap.

Louis, with his feet up on Zayn’s coffee table and a pizza to himself, is stringing his cheese as excessively as possible with one eye on Niall. Niall, who is eating a cheese-less pizza to avoid triggering his reflux, is chewing morosely in return. Harry is walking circles around the room with his moony eyes focused on the egg in his hands.

“I have to be in peak form if I’m going to be doing gym battles,” Liam explains, halfway through the single slice he had accepted from Zayn.

“But you’re not even the one who’s battling,” Zayn argues.

“I’ve gotta be in good shape for my pokémon!”

“That makes no sense, Liam, and I think you know it.”

“I’m sorry, does your family run a gym?” Liam says, his free hand on his hip.

“Come on Zayn, respect the craft,” Louis giggles through a mouthful of cheese, earning a glare from both Liam and Zayn in equal measure.

Liam levels a stern finger. “If anyone respects the craft less than Zayn it’s you,” he grins.

“Uhh, guys?”

They look over at Harry, who’s frozen in place. The egg in his hands is lighter than Louis remembers, and getting lighter still. It’s glowing, brightening steadily until the light swallows up Harry’s hands.

Louis almost chokes, thumping his chest with one fist. “It’s—hatching!”

Harry is bent almost in half, holding the egg as far from his body as he can reach and his legs thrown wide in panic. “What do I do!”

“Put it down!” Niall shouts.

Liam immediately thrusts a hand out in fright. “Don’t drop it!”

“I didn’t mean drop it ya numpty!”

“_Guys_!”

Harry slowly lowers himself to his knees, not quite putting down the egg, just resting his hands against the floor. The rest of them lean forward with a directionless urgency, each of them certain they should be doing something but unsure of what exactly they _could_ do. The egg glows brighter and brighter, far too bright for Zayn’s modest living space—and then, suddenly, it’s stops. Louis is still blinking the light away when he hears a soft ‘ohh’ from someone, he can’t see who.

The room fills back in from the edges of his vision, and where the egg had been only seconds ago there are now two small, blue circles. Louis first thinks the egg has somehow split into two smaller eggs, before realising one of the circles has a pair of equally round ears and two white spots on its cheeks.

“An Azurill,” Zayn gasps under his breath.

Harry’s hands still rest where the egg had been, upturned either side of where Azurill now stands. Azurill’s eyes waver before fixing on Harry, and then grow delightedly wide before it bounces toward him with a squeak. Harry’s mouth, still agape, slowly stretches into a dazzling smile.

He brings his hands together and lifts the newly hatched pokémon up to eye level. “Hi,” he says, and Azurill bounces in answer.

“Harry, I think _it_ thinks you’re mum,” Niall laughs.

Harry and Azurill share a moment of loving communion even Niall’s amusement can’t penetrate.

“I think I am too,” he beams.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading, you can find the tumblr post [here](https://dearmrsawyer.tumblr.com/private/188663215428).


End file.
